Best PlacesUnion Park, Des Moines, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Union Park, Des Moines, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Union Park, Des Moines ranks 3,479th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Union Park, Des Moines
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Union Park, Des Moines' strengths and weaknesses
Where Union Park, Des Moines ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 97% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$776 a month, better than 92% of neighborhoods
- Short commute18.2 minutes each way, better than 88% of neighborhoods
Where Union Park, Des Moines ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Union Park, Des Moines
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union Park, Des Moines home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,537, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Union Park, Des Moines' effective rate of 1.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Union Park, Des Moines
Union Park, Des Moines runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Union Park, Des Moines.
Who works in Union Park, Des Moines, and how
Work in Union Park, Des Moines centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Union Park, Des Moines
Union Park, Des Moines has more parkland per resident than 91% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Union Park, Des Moines and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Union Park, Des Moines, month by month
Union Park, Des Moines sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 32, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 32° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Union Park, Des Moines
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Union Park, Des Moines
Schools across Union Park, Des Moines average a C, better than 40% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Findley Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Garton ElementaryC · 33% proficient
- Cattell Elementary SchoolC · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harding Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- North High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union Park, Des Moines school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union Park, Des Moines measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Union Park, Des Moines against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Union Park, Des Moines
Is Union Park, Des Moines a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union Park, Des Moines ranks 3,479th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on state finances, fast internet, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on cell coverage and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union Park, Des Moines expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $158,113. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $57,537 median income, cost of living beats 44% of neighborhoods.
Is Union Park, Des Moines safe?
Yes, Union Park, Des Moines is safer than 83% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Union Park, Des Moines with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union Park, Des Moines. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union Park, Des Moines represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Union Park, Des Moines detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union Park, Des Moines: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union Park, Des Moines: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union Park, Des Moines: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union Park, Des Moines: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union Park, Des Moines detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.